Page 90 of The Fake Out

An icky feeling started to crawl across my skin. I didn’t like where this was headed.

“We appreciate and reward that kind of commitment to the organization, so we’d like to offer you a management role. You’d be overseeing the designers and meeting with clients.”

They were offering me a promotion because I’d kept my mouth shut about Jake? The shudder that worked its way down my spine felt nothing like the kind I experienced around Emerson.

“Ms. Damiano?”

I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I’m just surprised.” I rushed the words out.

“Understandable. When we floated your name, we hadn’t realized you were working remotely. I just want to be clear that this isn’t a remote position. But it comes with a drastic salary increase, and you’ll receive a bonus for every project your team completes, not just for your own accounts.”

“Right.” I swallowed, the pressure in my chest making my breathing labored.

He threw out some numbers, and I shut my eyes. Because that kind of salary would easily make the apartments I’d looked at in New York affordable.

“I’ll email an official offer, but why don’t you take a few days to think it over? Let’s set up a meeting for Monday morning. Say my office, eight thirty?”

“Sure,” I agreed, because though he’d framed it as a suggestion, it was a directive. The five o’clock train would suck, but it would get me into New York on time. The end of the conversation was a blur. And then I was saying goodbye and promising to see him on Monday.

I swallowed past the boulder lodged in my throat and set the phone down on the bed. A job offer I didn’t want from a company I didn’t want to work for, but with a salary that would make life so much easier.

“Gi,” my brother barked.

Heart lurching, I rushed out of the room and hurried down the hall. When I stepped into the living area, they were all sitting at the table, waiting for me.

“Did you just come out of Emerson’s room?” My brother’s brows jumped as he looked from me to the hallway and back again.

“Why would I be in his room?” I asked, even though that’s exactly where I’d just come from. I hadn’t even thought about it when I walked in there to take the call. I’d been sleeping in his room for weeks. Even when he wasn’t home. I guess it was habit at this point.

Chris glared at me. Emerson lowered his focus to his plate. Avery eyed each one of us, her gaze calculating, before she jumped in.

“How can you possibly tell what room she was in? Can you even see either door?” Avery leaned across him. “Doesn’t look like it from here.”

“Whatever,” Chris huffed and then waved at my seat. “Can we eat now?”

“Did we decide not to watch a movie?” I dropped into the chair next to Em.

“Avery wanted to sit at the table. What was the call about? Must have been important if you kept us waiting to eat,” Chris said, but his shoulders relaxed as he took his first bite.

“Jake was fired,” I mumbled, picking up my fork.

Emerson brought his ice water to his lips, but I swore he was smiling behind the glass.

“Good,” Chris said.

“They offered me his job.”

“That’s great,” Chris said, cracking the smallest smile.

On my other side, Emerson choked. He barely had his glass steady on the table before he launched into a coughing fit.

Snapping up straight, I whacked his back. “You okay?”

He nodded, and with one final cough, he turned to me. “They offered you his job?” His normally bright green eyes were a little muddy. It happened when he wore a yellow or beige like he was wearing now, but the contrast was so drastic in this moment that it made him seem sad.

“Did you take the job?” Chris demanded.

After I gave Emerson a quick scan, searching for what the issue could be, I turned back to my brother. “No. I said I’d think about it.”

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